GRAYLING FOREST MANAGEMENT UNIT

YOE 2007 - GraylingComp Review Notes

Grayling Unit Office

November 3, 2005

Comp 12 (Mark Montei)

  • Comp Header - Comments: Private forty (NE-SE of Sec 36) is highly desirable for acquisition.Most well sites in the compartment need better reclamation. Need to ID location of PBB pit using GPS or a survey.
  • Stand 50 – Make new stand from wildlife opening within stand. Prescribe opening maintenance.
  • Map – Add ORV route marker symbols to snowmobile trail.
  • Note: Susan needs to set up a meeting to start ORV plan for the area.Follow up on illegal trail road through the stand 50.

Comp 22 (Joan Charlebois)

  • Stand 103 – Remove planting prescription. Comment: Leave open as wildlife corridor.
  • Stand 10 – Final harvest. Comment: Expand the stand southerly about a chain into stand 11.
  • Stand 65 – Change prescription to leave tops.
  • Stands 56, 63 – Comment: Propose for disposal.
  • Note: Susan will follow up on why we don’t OI F&WL Service lands.
  • Comp Write – Specify Middle Branch of the Big Creek is a part of AuSableRiver designated NaturalRiver.

Comp 63 (Joan Charlebois)

Note: Susan will contact John Mayes regarding boundary transfer information.

Comp 69 (Craig Farrer & Patrick Potter)

  • Map – Snowmobile/ORV route needs to be added.
  • Stand 83 – Expand into stand 66 for aspen management.
  • Stand 120 – West portion treated as a shelterwood for visual considerations.
  • Note: Susan can not close off Pine and Eight Point Roads as they are count roads. Susan will need to schedule a meeting to address the next phase of maintaining closure and enforcement.
  • Comp Header – Comment: Long term goal for comp is to encourage oak-pine mixture.
  • Note - Tony Furlich, forester from Hydrolake, suggested stands 118 and 118 be thinned the YOE. It was decided to delay thinning for ten years and hold for visual.

Comp 185 (Joan Charlebois)

  • Stands 7, 8, 9, 71, 72, 73, 74 – Factor limit no treatment for military use. Comment: Unit Manger prefers to stagger cuts.

Comp 192 (Craig Farrer)

  • Stand 30 – Change treatment from a thinning to a shelterwood. Comment: Leave and protect all oak regeneration. Mark stand to leave 30-50 BA of red pine, favoring to leave 10 - 12 inch dbh trees. Release pockets of advanced oak regeneration where possible. Create regeneration holes where feasible. Watch visual along roads, marking to leave heavier and feathering back into stand. Cut during July through November to promote scarification of site during logging. Watch sedge problems on site.
  • Stand 71 – Change to no treatment. Leave stand condition 8. Comment: Stand objective is to leave for age and species diversity. If treated in future, follow big tree management guidelines.
  • Stand 23 – Add to stand comment: Thin from above in an attempt to produce larger utility poles.
  • Comp Header - Comment: Paige Perry will evaluate condition of ORV trail in south part of the comp to determine means of reducing further erosion and to see if hardening is appropriate.
  • Add West Higgins ORV trail to the comp narrative.

Comp 198 (Jason Lewecki)

  • Stands42, 58 - Comment: Manage long term for a mixture of oak and white pine.
  • Stand 10 – Amend comment: Girdle five pole-size trees per acre for snag development.
  • Stand 104 – Comment: Size of stand may vary more than 25% when sale is set up.
  • Comp Write-up – Change from military board land to military lease land.
  • Stand 37 – Comment: Protect hemlock and hemlock regeneration.
  • Stand 55 – No prescription. Comment: Hold for age-class diversity. Lots of young aspen and oak in stand. Let mature for ten years. Stand is converting hardwoods long term.
  • Stand 438, 454 – Comment: Prune apple trees.
  • Stands 436, 438 - Fill FTP out to remove invasive hardwoods.
  • Stands 19, 37, 42, 48, 58, 406, 412, 438 –Make sure comments from pre-review are noted.
  • Comp Write-up – Change twenty year management agreement to ten years.

Comp 207 (Patrick Potter)

  • Stand 15 - Comment: Propose for disposal.
  • Stand 13 – Comment: Follow up on illegal mountain bike trail. Record trespass report.
  • Stand 57 – Add comment: Leave jack pine tops for seed source. Specify that a mixture of jack pine, red pine, oak and aspen is acceptable.
  • Stands 49, 59, 60 –No treatment. Comment: Stands are SCA under objective they are mature natural red and white pine stands that we want to continue to manage as natural stands. May some day need to perform treatments to discourage red maple in parts of the stands. Getting good natural pine and oak reproduction now. Can allow manual removal of red maple along road and trail for visual management if desired. Stands may make a good site for future ski and hiking trail development.
  • Note - We need to develop guidelines for this type of SCA and also want to classify the following other stands as similar SCA with similar objective across unit: Dyer Red Pine; Comp 227, stand 53; Comp 192, stand 71.
  • Note – Jim Bielecki will provide big tree management for red pine to staff.
  • Note – Susan will follow-up on removal of building in section 11.
  • Map – Hiking and horse symbol added to shore-to-shore trail.
  • Comp write-up – Change “nature” river to “natural river”.

Comp 215 (Patrick Potter)

Stand 43 – Comment: Beech bark disease monitor plot in stand.

Stand 403 – Comment: Adjacent land owner planted trees on state land.

Comp 223 (Patrick Potter)

  • Remove mention of Michigan Riding & Hiking Trail from comp write-up because it has been moved further east.
  • Comp Header – Comment: Contact forest health specialist prior to harvest that results in an oak residual being left.
  • Stands 1, 11, 54, 55, 56, 57, 60, 65, 66–Change to final harvest. Comment: Leave islands for structure and visual management. Mark out islands of health oak to comprise approximately 10% of stand to serve as visual barriers, wildlife mast, cover, and structural diversity. Can allow loggers to work in oak wilt period if islands are adequately designed to protect residual oak from skid damage. Under-plant entire area randomly with jack pine to introduce pine component back into ecosystem. Heavy sedge and deer browse are a problem for oak regeneration. Heavy gypsy moth egg masses noted. Expect outbreak in spring 2006 then hope it will crash. That leaves two years before treatment o allow stand to recover before harvest. Do not expect good natural oak regeneration due to aging oak, heavy deer browse, sedge and stresses on site. Supplement with heavier jack pine planting in areas that do not come well naturally. This is a first step in a long-term process to return stand back to its natural oak, red pine and white pine mix.

Comp 232 (Jason Lewecki)

  • Elaine, Larry, Jim Fisher and field staff will evaluate fuel break needs in the compartment.
  • Map – Add hiking and riding map symbols on trail along north edge of compartment.

Comp 237 (Joan Charlebois)

  • Stand 44 – Dispose.
  • Stands 40, 41 – Comment: Leave buffer along tank trail to discourage off trail use.
  • Comp write-up – Under watershed and fisheries considerations, note that East Branch of the AuSable is part of the AuSableRiverNaturalRiver designation.
  • Stand 53 – Create new stand from the part of stand 53 that extends in to stand 51. Final harvest with stand 53.

Comp 242 (Lucas Merrick)

  • Stand 6 – Thin to no less than 70 BA. Request from military to leave tops and/or girdle 4 – 6 trees per acre for structure. Drop the regeneration holes.
  • Stands 37, 38 – Comment: Winter road and winter cut only. Is wet along east side of stand. Abide by natural river guidelines. Elaine will clarify comments.
  • Comp write-up – Specify that East Branch of AuSable is a natural river.

Comp 244 (Jason Lewecki)

  • Stands 403, 412, 417 – Comment: Susan will address firing points.

Comp 262 (Mark Montei)

  • Stands 1 - Separate out two different stands. One stand is located East of N-S trail bisecting stand and north of the southern most trail. This area contains denser pine and should be scheduled for a thinning down to 90 BA residual. Comment: Girdle 3 trees per acre for woody structure. Check with military and see if we can leave tops and woody debris in stand to improve stand structure instead of chipping everything. Limit harvest to September through November to try to scarification with logging equipment. Need to avoid military training times. The west and south portion of the stand is more open. No harvest treatments are prescribed but we need to scarify the stand using a small JD 440 skidder with disc to promote natural regeneration. Note, adjust so we don't have furrows with scarification, try to keep disturbance level as possible.
  • Stands 2, 28, 29 –Comment: No treatment prescribed Comment: Treat as appropriate with stand 1.
  • After discussion with Larry Jacobs of Military on 11/21/05, hold off on burning stands related to Pine barrens plan until Military obtains an incidental take agreement with USFWS. Thus we can approve burns via Department, but do not perform P burns until we get military approval. Harvest treatments are ok.

Comp 264 (Craig Farrer)

  • Stands 4, 36 – Remove prescription.
  • Stands 73, 87 – Change to final harvest. MO of aspen.
  • Map – Add snowmobile trail symbols.
  • Note – Make sure fen is recorded in comp special features folder.

Comp 277 (Mark Montei)

Stand 10 – Comment: Did not treat to leave mature cover for habitat and age class diversity.

As the Compartment Review Meeting Facilitator, I certify that the above changes have been agreed to:

John Pilon, Inventory & Planning SpecialistDate:

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Grayling Comp Review Notes 2007.doc